Welfare
New Programs
During Term 2 we have seen several new programs start. On Thursdays a group of Year 10 boys are learning everything they need to know about horticulture and landscaping under the tutelage of Mr Prasad. Mr Prasad’s focus with the boys is not just on developing landscaping skills, but to teach them about team work, discipline, hard work and focus. The boys have started mulching one of the garden beds near the staff carpark. They will continue to fix up garden beds around the school for the rest of Term 2 and Term 3.
The Year 9 and 10 boys gym program has also commenced. We are very lucky to have a partnership with Melbourne Muscle in Bayswater. The boys attend the gym once a week with support from our Chaplain, Stewart McCartney. The boys are learning about health and fitness, whilst going through some gruelling exercises to test their strength. The themes for the boys are to be persistent, never give up and always challenge yourself.
On the 17th of May 2017, the school along with 130 countries celebrated IDAHOBIT day (International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia). We provided pancakes in the morning to raise awareness and gave out rainbow ribbon badges. It was great to see so many students wearing rainbow ribbon, badges and shoe laces on the day in support.
After celebrating the National Day against bullying and violence in March 2017, I have followed this up with running a pastoral care session on bullying with Year 7’s and 8’s. The session has focused on Bystanders and what students can do to help when they witness bullying. The students have learnt many strategies which include what they may say as a bystander. These include; “This isn’t fair, lets leave”, “Hey just stop it” and “no one likes that”. The idea is that students stick up for each other and let other students know that the behaviour they are seeing is not accepted. We also discuss strategies for online bullying, which include not joining in, reporting it and talking to an adult.
Stewart McCartney and myself have started delivering pastoral care sessions with the Year 8’s once a fortnight during PE theory. These sessions are focused on developing social and emotional skills and have been well received by the students so far.
We have recently received our results of the resilience survey completed by students. There are some interesting results which has given us some areas to address. One of the consistent issues across all year levels is the lack of sleep that students are getting and there are a significant amount of students who are not eating breakfast. Ideally for a teenager, they should be receiving at least 8 hours sleep per night and as we all know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Without sleep and breakfast, students will struggle to concentrate in class and apply themselves to the best of their ability. A reminder that we have breakfast food available in the Wellbeing Centre for any students who would wish to grab something to eat before period 1.
We are currently trying to raise money for a sink to be installed in the Wellbeing Centre. If there are any businesses out there that would be willing to help donate towards the sink, we will advertise your contribution on the school’s facebook page and through the newsletter and via Compass.
We continue to also seek donations for our families who are financially disadvantaged. If you can offer a small donation, please visit the office and the office staff will help you. All donations go directly to families in need.
And as always if you have any concerns about your child or you are looking for some advice, please don’t hesitate to contact me on the school number or via email.
Paul Graham
Student Wellbeing Coordinator